Business Insight Scotland

Business Insight Tuesday July 24 2012

Timely counsel Richard Keen on the Faculty of Advocates and its future

Virtuous circles

Why a fresh approach to recycling can result in positive business benefits

Tuesday July 24 2012 | the times

2

Business Insight

Welcome

Current challenge met by enduring heritage This month’s Business Insight probes the hidden world of the Faculty of Advocates, one of Scotland’s most ancient institutions, but one which is at the cutting edge of legal practice, its organisation and membership under increasing pressure as fundamental changes to the law test its efficiency and competence.

Richard Keen, its Dean, who has appeared in major cases such

as Piper Alpha and Lockerbie, assesses how well it measures up to those challenges.

What contribution do festivals make to our economy? Peter Jones turns critic to reach a conclusion, while Ben Thomson urges the case for splitting up the functions of our banks.

Also, how recycling has become big business, and an assessment of the massive cost of waste.

COVER IMAGE BY TOM MAIN FOR THE TIMES

Why festivals have Peter Higgs was lured to work in Edinburgh by the city’s Festival.

There are instructive parallels between it and the ‘God Particle’ that he discovered

Peter Jones at large

P

eter Higgs, emeritus professor of theoretical physics at Edinburgh University, looks to be an averagely heavy man. But now we know why he, and indeed why every person and object has mass or weight. It’s because he contains lots of the boson sub-atomic particles named after him (and gluons too but that’s another story). But why did the particular mass of Peter Higgs, who grew up in Newcastle and Bristol and gained his degrees in London, gravitate to Edinburgh?

The answer doesn’t need a particle

physicist to explain. In 1949, while a student at King’s College, London, he hitch-hiked to Edinburgh where he encountered the international festival, then still a small affair just in its third year.

It nevertheless thrilled him enough to make him decide that Edinburgh was the city he wanted to live in, which he duly did when the opportunity of a lectureship arose in 1960.

The rest, as they say, is history. It is probably impossible to calculate the value in reputation that Prof Higg’s presence in Edinburgh brings to the university and city, except that it is an awful lot of prestige bosons. In turn, it also says that while you can measure a lot about the festivals that Edinburgh now hosts — more than 20 — some effects are immeasurable.

The festivals are like a field of artistic energy through which people pass, gathering experiences of pleasure and often thought-provocation, being thrilled and occasionally shocked, and generally accumulating considerable cultural mass, as does the city itself.

Much like the Higgs boson, we cannot directly observe or measure these effects to know that they exist. But, as the Higgs boson’s existence has been confirmed by spotting other particles it throws off as it decays, so we can confirm the value of the festivals’ energy field by counting the

PROFESSIONAL BRIEF

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? It’s Cyberhawk

T

HE name instantly intrigues. With its touch of 007 glamour, adventure and futuristic hi-tech spec, Cyberhawk may well seem ultra-spaceage – developing, supplying and operating flying “drones” – but it represents a very practical solution for a growing fan-base of international corporate clients.

They are impressed, above all, by the idea’s key ability to remove workplace mortal danger to humans.

Only four years old, Livingston-based Cyberhawk Innovations is already a global player in remote aerial inspection and surveying, using tiny remotely operated aerial vehicles (ROAVs) that can carry video equipment, still and thermal imaging cameras and emission sensors.

Based on European units designed for aerial photography – but with sophisticated front-end technology developed here – the flying machines can safely perform otherwise-risky inspections of high objects like wind turbine blades, flare stacks, industrial chimneys, and cooling towers “whether live or shut down”.

They even make archaeology easier. A recent task was to survey the 15th-century Stirling Bridge; to photograph and assess what repair work was needed to satisfy Tom Gaze, Stirling district architect for Historic Scotland, who said: “Putting up scaffolding is quite expensive, so we brought in Cyberhawk, which meant the survey took place in hours rather than days.”

The talents of the feather-light machine – looking part-helicopter, part-dragonfly and part-hawk but under a metre long – has attracted

some big global clients, such as ExxonMobil, Shell and INEOS of Cologne, whose operations manager Dr Christoph Breitkopf said of it: “The drone enabled us to inspect the flare safely and efficiently while it was still in operation.”

The inspiration for Cyberhawk came from managing director Malcolm Connolly who, as a former oil and gas man with memories of risking his life in “rope access” exercises (often abseiling), resolved to find a better way of servicing hard-to-reach parts of big structures.

His firm already employs 14 people, including engineers and surveyors who control visual assessments and safety reports, and he expects that figure to double within a year, thanks to a fair following wind in the shape of Scottish Development International (SDI).

A job-stimulating joint venture between the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, SDI is dedicated to combining these organisations’ resources to deliver support for companies investing in Scotland. Its global knowledge is particularly impressive – and Mr Connolly is quick to appreciate its help in exporting, developing new markets and raising awareness of his enterprise “virtually everywhere”.

“It has been absolutely fundamental to the speed with which we’ve increased our export offering,” he says. “We are still quite a small company but SDI has helped us immeasurably to jump the many hurdles you face when approaching overseas markets.

“In the Middle East, for instance, we really needed its help to work out the legislation sur-

rounding flying machines. We also got invaluable assistance with market research in various areas and a little bit of funding to go and do speculative trips over there.

“The SDI support network all over the world is very reassuring and you feel it takes a fair bit

of the risk out of some challenging business exercises.”

Risk reduction on others’ behalf? That seems to sit quite comfortably with Cyberhawk’s own basic philosophy.

By Richard Wilson

the times | Tuesday July 24 2012

3

Business Insight

critical mass too

CHRIS BACON/PA

FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

The recent debacle at Barclays underlined the need to split the banks’ functions

The case for separation is clear to remedy the meltdown in banking

T money that its attendees disburse.

In 2010, BOP Consulting reckoned just over one million people attended 11 festivals, three-quarters of them going to the Tattoo, Fringe and International Festivals (see chart). Adding up what they paid in ticket costs, hotels, restaurants, shops, taxis, buses, etc., then deducting some on the assumption that if there were no festivals, some money would still have been spent in Edinburgh, they calculated that this added £245 million to Edinburgh’s economy.

Add in the 10 or so other festivals (how many depends on whether you count the Foodies Festival as a separate one or not), and considering that some, such as the television festival’s 1,500 attendees are high spenders, then the figure probably rises to about £260 million, about 1.5 per cent of the gross value added in Edinburgh’s economy.

And since quite a few festival-goers, BOP Consulting discovered from interviews, also spend a few days elsewhere in Scotland, about £20 million more is spent in the country. To put that in perspective, it is more than golf tourism contributes to the Scottish economy, reckoned to be £220 million in 2008.

Other numbers can be added. BOP estimated that the 11 Festivals studied created the equivalent of 5,242 full-time jobs. Though much is part-time, and even more is voluntary, the fact that it is mostly done by young people adds to their skills in dealing with people, making them more employable.

And there are other intangibles. The consultants reckoned that the festivals generated 22,076 print news items with a potential readership of 30 million. Add in the broadcast and social media coverage, particularly of the Hogmanay fireworks, and the festivals clearly give Edinburgh an annual media reach which perhaps only the Olympics surpass.

This is a big plus point for city businesses. Standard Life has long been a sponsor of the International Festival

because, said Sir Sandy Crombie, former chief executive and now chair of Creative Scotland: “We were very keen to show ourselves to be good Edinburgh citizens, supporting the festival.”––– In part, that was also payback to the international festival in recognition of the business benefits it brings. Sir Sandy said: “When I was trying to build up Standard Life Investments, we needed to bring talent in and they needed to be based here. Commuting from London was not on.

“It was important to me in saying to the people I wanted to attract to Edinburgh that it was a great place to live and work.

It was important to be able to say, and to really mean it, that there was this great cultural depth in the city.”

And when doing business overseas, while Scotland and Standard Life are solid, well-recognised brands in themselves, the reputation of Edinburgh as a thriving cultural centre reinforced those brands, helping to open doors and build relationships, he said.

It doesn’t need a Large Hadron Collider to know that festival bosons do exist.

Even though they can’t be seen and defined, they are clearly adding significant reputational mass to Edinburgh.

As the discovery of the Higgs boson particle enhances Edinburgh’s reputation, the festivals, like a field of artistic energy, add cultural mass

SOURCE: EDINBURGH FESTIVALS IMPACT STUDY, BOP CONSULTING, 2011

£0.62m

Science Imaginate

£0.38m

Film

£2.82m

Jazz & Blues

£1.29m

Festival attendance figures, 2011

£34.37m

Tattoo

£141.56m

Fringe £0.49m

Mela

£20.84m

International £5.08m

Book £0.18m

Storytelling Hogmanay

£27.91m 0

50000

100000 150000 200000 250000 300000

The attendance and revenue for 11 festivals in Edinburgh last year

wo years ago I was called by Gwyn Kennedy of Cairns Church in Milngavie and asked if I would give a lecture in their “Thinking Allowed” lecture series on the subject of “the Ethics of Banking,” a topic he felt his congregation would like to hear about from someone who had run an investment bank for over ten years and in the light of headlines about fat cat bankers and the collapse of our largest banks.

I asked how long he thought I should speak for. “Oh, most people have spoken for about an hour,” he replied. I wondered what his congregation had done to deserve such a penance.

In the end not only did I give an hour on the subject to a packed church but after a further hour of questions I was in danger of missing the last train home.

There was both real confusion and resentment at how the banks still seem oblivious to public opinion by granting large bonuses and retirement packages to those that had caused the mess.

My argument was, as it still is, that the culture within banks has become one of how to operate within the rules rather than what is the right and sensible course of action. Boards of banks have hidden behind regulation, which for the most part they have kept within and can point to the regulatory capital as the safeguard against financial downturns.

Yet if banks lose that common sense approach and start lending mortgages at five times joint salaries, or pay bigger and bigger bonuses to incentivise employees to achieve short term profits at the expense of potential risk to the shareholders, depositors and other creditors, then nothing is going to protect the bank from the resulting systemic risk.

The problem was not of size, the so-called “too big to fail,” but that the businesses had become too complicated, making it virtually impossible for boards to understand the businesses they ran, let alone the regulators who monitored them. The mixing of merchant banks that advised companies with stockbrokers who advised investors, with jobbers who ran risks as principal to form investment banks after “Big Bang” in the City was the start of the rot. These were then mixed with fund managers who managed

Ben Thomson investments and finally all these were merged into banks and building societies which previously had been largely limited to holding deposits and making loans. The financial conglomerates that emerged were too complicated and mixed the risk-taking and bonus culture of investment banking with the cautious big corporate culture of commercial banks. A recipe for disaster.

So what is the solution? Well, after the similar financial meltdown in 1929 it took five years for politicians in the US to realise the only way forward was to split all these businesses into their component parts. In 1934 Roosevelt introduced a series of acts that separated out commercial banks from investment banks from insurance companies. It is now time to do the same and re-introduce the Glass Steagall Act. The latest debacle over Libor is just another nail in the coffin of the current structure.

In future, any bank wishing to hold a licence to take deposits and be part of the clearing system should be a stand alone, independent entity that cannot be owned substantially by any other financial entity. Investment banks should not trade as principal for anything but short-term market making and certainly should not be allowed to conduct research into companies for investors whilst at the same time providing corporate finance to companies. The conflicts of interests are just too difficult too manage.

The advantage of splitting the banks is that the businesses should be clearer to manage and regulate. In fact, there could be less regulation and greater reliance on boards taking more responsibility for taking sensible decisions for the benefit of their stakeholders. It is an argument that the likes of Mervyn King, John Kay and Vince Cable have been promoting for the last few years and if we are ever to win back the trust and integrity of our banks it is high time we get on with it.

Ben Thomson is an investment banker and chairman of think-tank Reform Scotland

Tuesday July 24 2012 | the times

4

Business Insight

Cover story

The cautious advocate While retaining a sense of its historic identity, Richard Keen is equally determined that a modern and efficient Faculty of Advocates must face up to future challenges writes Ginny Clark

H

ow do you approach a Rottweiler? Carefully, of course. Richard Keen QC has earned the tag over a series of high profile cases in recent years, but as the Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, he has also been applying his considerable skills and dogged determination to matters that not only affect his colleagues at the bar, but underpin the fabric of Scottish justice.

Formidable, incisive and agile, Keen’s court presence ensures a drama that, in any other arena, many would buy tickets to see. Yet while he cheerfully attempts to brush off the comparisons to rottweiler attributes, Keen does admit to a common characteristic: once he gets his teeth into something, he won’t let go.

This applies just as much outside the court, as it does inside it. Right now, in a period of some transition for Scottish law, and possibly for Scotland as a whole, Keen voices growing concern over a number of issues, from ongoing reviews of advocate fees and expenses, to changes in the Legal Aid system, to a report recommending the abolition of a linchpin of Scottish law, corroboration.

For Keen, who believes his organisation often struggles against misperception, both in terms of what his profession does, and also the important legacy of Scottish law, there is a small — dignified, but vigorous — battle ahead.

The Faculty of Advocates is an independent body of lawyers formed as part of the College of Justice around 1532.

Advocates existed before, but this is when they were formally constituted and established in an independent body of self-employed officers of the court, where they are primarily obligated to serve the court in advocating cases before it. The Faculty first elected a dean in 1567, with the role based upon the continental model, so the dean carries a baton in the same way as a bâtonnier — who is the primus inter pares (first among equals) in the lawyers of a bar — in Paris.

Given the significance of such a baton, it is no surprise, when meeting him for the first time, that Keen speaks softly.

Indeed, he has at times a reverential tone, when discussing the history of the Faculty, and the glorious building where it is situated in Edinburgh’s Parliament Square. This venerable pile — one would not dare to call it majestic — holds Parliament House, where the Scottish Parliament was held from 1639 until the Treaty of Union in 1707. This great hall, its edges studded with portraits and statues of this country’s most eminent, and a spiked oak hammer beam ceiling above, slows the breath. Ushered past the be-wigged counsel and solicitors who, deep in con-

versation, now pace this well-trod floor, and through the hush of a library, where laptops tap aside crumbling leather volumes, we move quickly by the door that leads to the old courtroom where Hare was consigned to prison and Burke to the noose, and on to the quietude of Keen’s deep-carpeted and wood-panelled office.

“It’s a great privilege to come here every day,” says Keen, with obvious pride.

“This is a wonderful place to work.”

However, as one would expect of such a rigorous and forensic intellect, Keen does not immediately tackle the subjects of his concern. The jugular can wait. The Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, Scotland’s top QC, first wants to set out the basis of his case.

“As an independent country, the courts and legal profession, which were still preserved in the Act of Union, were developed in line with French and Dutch models,” he says. “The bar historically always had a strong influence on political life because of the membership’s interests in politics as well as law. Going back to even just over 30 years ago, the Faculty still had so many representatives at Westminster and now we have one at Holyrood. The demands of professional practice were a little easier 30 years ago, but the Faculty is seeking to re-establish a place in public life, we’re not asserting some right, it’s about making a public contribution.

“As dean I’m elected as leader of the bar, where I’m intended to continue in practice, but a considerable amount of my time is taken up by the affairs of the Faculty, and also by negotiations with the government and other bodies. It’s a great honour. At one time it was usual to proceed onto the bench following a period in office as dean, but this is no longer an automatic assumption. The dean is re-elected at an anniversary meeting each year, with the Honourable Henry Erskine, the only dean to be voted out, in 1796.”

Having paused to look up at the portrait of Erskine, the famous Whig who fell out of his Tory colleagues’ favour over many issues, but most specifically for a speech condemning sedition laws as unconstitutional, that looks out over Keen’s office. The painting, perhaps, serves as a salutary warning. However, Keen is also driven to speak out, determined that a

The Faculty invented hot-desking 400 years ago ... now people are not here as the social elite but the intellectual elite

rich legacy is not lost, but equally determined a robust Faculty proves its value in the Scotland of today — and in an ability to provide the advocates of tomorrow.

“We do have a sense of our history, our identity,” he says. “However, we recognise in a modern world we can’t simply rest on who we were; our position rests on who we are. There is a rapidly changing environment, legally and economically, and we have to ensure what we provide as a profession is what is required of us.

“In Scotland there is the division between two branches (advocates and solicitors), and while we as a smaller branch have no monopoly, we have to make clear why it is we remain important as a legal resource of knowledge and advocacy skills. We are under increasing pressure, with proposed changes to budgets including that of Legal Aid, which underpins much that is done in the fields of criminal, family, and immigration or asylum law. Those working in these areas are under immense financial pressure.

“My concern is the Faculty now is accessible to young and able people to start a career here,” says Keen. “For that to happen, we must have a certain level of work and remuneration. We wouldn’t want to go back to the days, where even 40 years ago it was said you would need ‘a private income or a working wife to go to the bar’!

“We’re more open than the bar in England, and we accept highly qualified individuals without them having to find pupilages and tenancies. We work as cooperative in the Faculty, everything is paid for by a fixed percentage of everyone’s income. There is a real risk for junior counsel and this has long-term implications — if you attack the roots, the tree responds. If you can’t give opportunities to young people, you have to think where you will be in 20 years.”

A

nother challenge is the recent report from Lord Carloway, recommending that corroboration, two sources of incriminating evidence, in Scottish criminal prosecutions be abolished, in line with England.

“You have to view the issue of corroboration as akin to a delicate ecosystem,” says Keen. “Corroboration doesn’t stand alone; if interfered with it will impact on wider aspects. People say it’s not required in England, but there they need a 10-two majority, not eight-seven. It’s not unrelated, you can’t have not proven in England — it’s all linked. If you get rid of corroboration can you realistically convict someone of murder on a majority of eight-seven — on one person’s say so? I believe this report is well-intentioned, but is too narrowly focused. I’d be concerned to see changes without a deep-rooted analysis of our justice system. Dealing with it in isolation is a matter of concern.

“Scots law developed from Canon law and Roman law influence, it has a strong continental influence. Historically, close links with France and the Low Countries meant Scots going to study on the Continent rather than England until the 19th century. James Boswell attended Utrecht rather than Oxford or Cambridge, as until 1832 [the Reform Act] they didn’t meet religious qualifications. Undoubtedly we’re under increasing influence from England but that has been limited in the

case of criminal law. I don’t think there is a great deal to be gained in drawing comparisons. It’s an entirely distinct system.”

Some change, he accepts, can be valuable, as in the area of criminal work, for instance.

“Solicitors are gatekeepers and have to look at the cost. If an advocate appears in court it’s also necessary to pay for the solicitor to be present. We are reviewing this, whether counsel should appear without a solicitor so that it incurs the cost of one rather than two.

“Some of the ideas from the 19th century became entrenched in the 20th and need to be reviewed. Early on in my day, we’d still have the clerk walk ahead with the books and a junior walk behind me with the papers. I can carry my own books and papers.”

Keen accepts this kind of dated imagery has not helped in the public perception of the Faculty, still perceived by some as a kind of professional club for the highlyprivileged and overpaid.

“The perception is changing, it takes time,” he admits. “We don’t deal directly with the public, as they deal with solicitors, so some have a distant view of the bar, as the old gent in wig and gown.

the times | Tuesday July 24 2012

5

Business Insight

of change

‘A series of demanding cases’

TOM MAIN FOR THE TIMES

Richard Keen QC studied at the School of Law of the University of Edinburgh after finding little appeal in accountancy.

Admitted to the Faculty of Advocates in 1980, he was appointed a QC in 1993.

Formerly junior counsel in Scotland to the Department of Trade and Industry, he specialises in commercial, property and administrative law.

Among his high-profile cases was the defence of Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, one of the two accused of the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing. Fhimah was acquitted though co-accused Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, represented by another QC, was convicted. Recently, through a series of appeals, Keen was successful in getting Rangers FC’s SFA-imposed player transfer embargo overturned.

“I’ve been fortunate to have a series of demanding cases, such as Piper

what the future may hold for him, while remaining positive about the Faculty’s prospects.

“I’ve been very fortunate and greatly honoured by being elected as dean. I like to think I have played a role in developing the interests of the Faculty and in trying to ensure its proper place in Scottish society. At a more personal level, deans are like fish — they go off eventually. The Faculty, I believe, will prosper. We are not masters of our own destiny to some extent, with the legal system in general subject to the direction of our masters.

Alpha and Lockerbie.” he says. “I hadn’t done the criminal work before, it was immensely interesting.

“There was something lacking in the rules of the SFA and while Rangers were entitled to a remedy they had to go to court to secure that remedy.”

Keen is passionate about the Free Legal Services Unit of the Faculty of Advocates (FLSU), offering pro bono advice where there is no other means of obtaining legal assistance.

And he has great expectations concerning the Faculty’s MiniTrial initiative, where advocates, solicitors, procurator fiscal, court and security staff help pupils learn about the Scottish legal system.

“Never knowingly underpaid” as he once said, Keen, who lives in Edinburgh’s New Town, and has a “small” castle in Fife, is rather fond of fast cars.

However, I believe we deliver effective legal services Scotland, and properly informed, I also believe the Government will do nothing to damage that.”

Finally, as the Faculty celebrates a 10th year of those seriously entertaining state schools MiniTrials, Keen muses: “I’m really looking forward to the day when somebody arrives here and explains they are now coming to the bar because of what they learned in school about being an advocate or QC.” That’s one aspiration the Rottweiler does not want to let go.

PROFESSIONAL BRIEF

The case for the defence ...of the defence

P However, I wouldn’t completely dismiss tradition. The Faculty invented hot-desking 400 years ago, through our library system ... Now, however, people are here not as the social elite, but the intellectual elite. It takes at least a second-class honours degree, then eight years of exams and another year after that of solicitors training — that’s the level of expertise the public are entitled to expect. We’re not closed, we are a diverse group, demanding academically, but not restrictive socially. Back in 1980, there were only half a dozen women in the Faculty; now there are 120.

“My fear is it becomes extremely difficult for young people to get their foot on the ladder, that unless they are from relatively comfortable backgrounds, then they may be dissuaded, and that would be a very bad thing.

“People earn a great deal of money at the top of any enterprise or business, but Faculty members, given their qualifications, are not over-rewarded. At the bottom end, they are working in important areas such as family law or immigration, but earn less that your window cleaner.

“What I find irritating is that the Scot-

Richard Keen believes that young people should be able to become advocates whatever their economic background

tish Legal Aid Board will publish what the top 10 earn — what about the bottom 10 or the 100 in between? That would give a better impression. It’s easy to build up perceptions, and I believe we can do more to dispel them. We have various outreach projects, such as the mock trials in state schools which have been a tremendous success. Throughout the High Courts the sheer responsibility we have ... people don’t come here having calculated the money they will earn, they are not drawn to the bar on that basis.

I

wanted to join because it was not only the profession I wanted to pursue, but because of its history, its place in the world. To be successful, you won’t get there without luck. It’s immensely hard work, but there is also an element of being in the right place at the right time.

You need a degree of political awareness, with a small ‘p’, but you also need to enjoy it. It’s hugely demanding and difficult, so unless you really enjoy it ... Let’s just say, if you’re looking for a 40-hour week, don’t come to the bar.”

Keen himself can look upon an illustrious career thus far, but gives no hints as to

rosecutors are fond of saying in their opening remarks to juries that they act in the public interest. What is rarely acknowledged is that defence advocates also represent an important public interest.

It is a vital part of a democratic society that the Crown’s allegations are thoroughly and expertly tested and that anyone accused of a serious criminal offence is represented by an experienced and skilled advocate.

The prosecution service enjoys all the backing and resources of the State and without an equally powerful defence the chances of a miscarriage of justice are greatly increased, bringing the legal system into disrepute.

In a trial in the High Court every accused is entitled to be represented by a member of Faculty and in the most serious offences by a Queen’s Counsel. It is sadly the case that not all accused are made aware of this right.

Those who practise criminal law at the Faculty of Advocates are best placed to provide this essential public service.

Unfortunately there seems to be a view that our job is to secure the acquittal of people we know are guilty.

The perennial question asked of the criminal advocate is “How can you defend them when you know they are guilty?”

That is of course never the position.

If a client tells you they have committed the offence then the only work that can

Brian McConnachie QC

be done for them is to plead guilty on their behalf and present appropriate mitigation or to proceed to trial but only on the very restricted basis of establishing whether or not the Crown can prove its case. An advocate will never allow an accused to present evidence which they know to be false.

Our main task is to represent those accused of serious crimes who maintain their innocence and to ensure that they have the most effective representation. It is not our function to evaluate the evidence and decide whether the person is innocent or guilty. That is the function of the jury. It would be impossible for an advocate to do his/her job properly if they formed a view of guilt or innocence.

Tuesday July 24 2012 | the times

6

Business Insight

Special Feature: Faculty of Advocates

Thoroughly modern ways informed by values of past With the Faculty of Advocates nearing its half-millennium, Richard Wilson looks at how its stable system has become the engine of an accessible organisation

T

he Faculty of Advocates in Scotland is a venerable body, dating back to the reign of James V and probably predating the College of Justice, which was established in 1532.

It upholds the independent traditions of Scots Law. Within the Faculty, advocates are divided into Stables, each run by an Advocates Clerk: we examine who offers what in the name of stable justice.

AMPERSAND ‘Quiet confidence’ The Ampersand team exudes a quiet confidence in the expert abilities of its 53 members — including 21 Queen’s Counsel — “many of whom are recognised as leaders in their respective fields”.

The stable was established in 1981 and within its full range of offered services it cites core strengths in commercial, planning, public and reparation law, both in contentious and non-contentious work, including advocacy, advice, and related written work.

Given that breadth of legal expertise coupled with reliable and flexible delivery of services for solicitors and clients it should come as no surprise that the services of Ampersand counsel are in such constant demand.

The Ampersand clerks are the first port of call for most inquiries and provide a crucial link between client and counsel.

The Ampersand team members are noted for their bright, friendly and informed approach.

Alan Moffat, who heads the experienced clerking team, recognises that today’s competitive legal market demands a more commercial and professional approach to doing business than was required in the past.

“All members of our clerking team

are qualified to discuss all aspects of instructing our members including making recommendations for the most appropriate counsel, advising on their availability, agreeing timescales, providing fee estimates and agreeing costs and assisting in getting instructions to counsel.

“Importantly, that does not mean that we always recommend only Ampersand members when a more appropriate advocate may be available elsewhere.

“Of course we have every confidence in the abilities and expertise of our own counsel, but we think that our commitAlan Moffat, Advocates Clerk, Ampersand

ment to excellence means ensuring that the most suitable counsel is selected for every case.

For further information, including profiles of each stable member and the practice areas database, visit the website www.ampersandstable.com or telephone 0131 260 5710.

ARNOT MANDERSON ‘The Comprehensive approach’ While certain stables under the Faculty umbrella like to stress their particular areas of specialisation, Arnot Manderson Advocates — formed four years ago by clerks Elizabeth Manderson and Lorna Arnot as an amalgamation of their respective stables — say their selling point is that “we cover every aspect of law, so that in a way you get the whole Faculty in one stable”.

Ms Arnot adds: “We deliberately set out not to be specialised — we positively wanted to have a more general approach.”

“And that,” says Ms Manderson, “means every day is refreshingly different. Every time we lift the phone we don’t know what to expect — it could be an opinion wanted on a professional negligence or family matter, or counsel’s services required in a fatal accident enquiry, criminal trial or some commercial or reparation case.”

Justifiably proud of this versatility

and flexibility, Arnot Manderson is not only the largest stable in the Faculty of Advocates with 64 members — around a third of whom are women — and its two principal clerks could be in line for a “most experienced pair” title as they have chalked up decades of Faculty experience between them. They are supported by four deputy clerks.

Stable director Eric Robertson says: “In Arnot Manderson, solicitors can be confident that they will find counsel with appropriate experience and qualities for the particular problem or case in a wide range of practice areas.

“With leading practitioners in a number of key areas, the stable offers expertise and excellence at all levels. It is a tribute to the quality of the clerking service and the energy of the stable membership that we have grown to our present substantial number.”

More information about the stable’s work and suitability of individual advocates for particular cases is at www. arnotmanderson.co.uk. Or telephone: 0131 260 5712.

AXIOM ADVOCATES ‘Best bet for complexity’ Another stable that might call itself the “A team” is Axiom, which has established a reputation for outstanding advice and advocacy since its formation in 2007.

“We see ourselves as providers of a highquality service in a straightforward, unpretentious manner,” says stable director Alistair Clark QC, who was one of the earliest members.

“But we modestly prefer our qualities to be assessed by more objective agencies — such as the legal directory Chambers UK 2013 which ranks 75 per cent of the membership as leaders in their field with more than 70 recommendations; reinforcing the view previously published that Axiom is ‘the best bet for complex, high-end litigation’ and ‘enjoys a position as first port of call for many instructing solicitors’” The Axiom set contains many of the most highly rated senior and junior counsel at the Scottish Bar. “Our advocates have appeared in many of the most significant high-profile cases

the times | Tuesday July 24 2012

7

Business Insight

leagues Catriona Still, Scott Gray and Veronica Lynn. “They are a first-class team, crucial to our work,” he says.

Axiom Advocates has 38 members, many of whom have an interest or expertise in particular practice areas in the fields of commercial and public law and are widely regarded as being among Scotland’s leading senior and junior counsel in those areas.

For more information, visit www. axiomadvocates.com. Or telephone: 0131 2605651.

BLACK CHAMBERS ‘Invaluable link’ Black Chambers was established in 2002 — “so I’ve been its clerk for ten years now,” says Lee-Anne Black, who took over then as clerk of what had previously been the Carvel Stable. “The first thing I noticed on moving here from a civil stable was the sense of urgency when dealing with criminal cases.”

Since then, the Chambers has grown in numbers and reputation establishing itself, in particular, at the forefront of the Criminal Bar. As well as containing numerous counsel with an expertise in most aspects of criminal law, the Chambers also offers a wealth of experience in various areas such as personal injury, commercial law, employment law and health and safety matters.

“The criminal courts can be pretty fluid and unpredictable, which can make the job fairly challenging,” adds Ms Black. “Black Chambers is the largLee-Anne Black, Advocates Clerk, Black Chambers

in Scotland,” says Mr Clark, “one of the most recent being the AXA General Insurance Ltd case against the Lord Advocate in the Supreme Court last year in which the lawfulness of an Act of the Scottish Parliament was challenged.

“In the course of the case important aspects of public law and judicial review were looked at — such as who is actually entitled to bring a judicial review — and many points were clarified.”

Mr Clark has high praise for the Axiom clerks, led by practice manager Lesley Flynn, ably assisted by her colLesley Flynn, Practice Manager, Axiom Advocates

Memorial statues in Edinburgh’s Parliament Hall are the historic backdrop to a bustling world of contemporary legal practice

est of the three criminal stables and has real strength in depth in terms of experienced, heavily instructed counsel.”

The Chambers currently has 38 members, including nine senior counsel, and apart from Ms Black, its clerking team consists of her two deputies, Stevie Burns and Christina Tiffney. They offer a consistently efficient and professional service, providing an invaluable link between counsel and instructing agents.

Members have extensive experience in the Sheriff Court, the Court of Session, the High Court of Justiciary, the Criminal Appeal Court, the House of Lords’ the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and the UK Supreme Court. They have also been involved in many fatal accident inquiries, health and safety prosecutions, children’s referrals, confiscation proceedings and employment tribunals.

As well as hosting counsel who have conducted high-profile Scottish cases, the stable is strong in criminal appeals, with a number of counsel having been involved in landmark cases concerning devolution and human rights issues. More information: www.blackchambers.co.uk.

Or telephone: 0131 260 5681.

COMPASS CHAMBERS ‘Widening horizons’ While they enjoy their historic office surroundings, members of Compass Chambers also like to get out on the road, says practice manager Gavin Herd. That involves visits — two or three times a year — to places like Aberdeen, Inverness,

Gavin Herd, Practice Manager, Compass Chambers

Ayr and Perth, where the staging of miniconferences cement relationships with local solicitors through speakers discussing the latest legal developments.

It comes under the heading of CPD — continuing professional development — and Mr Herd adds: “As our ethos is to offer added value, we also send out regular bulletins to enhance awareness of our core strengths, the services we offer, and the calibre of our advocates. We find such communication essential to our appreciation of the market outside the central belt, but it works the other way to. When they come to us — to our annual bigger event in Edinburgh — it all goes down especially well.”

Members of the stable, whose director is Peter Gray QC, include some of the most highly regarded counsel at the Scottish Bar and, as a result, it can offer valuable experience in all courts from the Sheriff Court to the House of Lords and the Supreme Court.

Its advocates include 12 leading QCs and a number of the most talented juniors. It offers expertise across a broad spectrum of litigation, with core strengths in reparation, regulatory crime and professional liability proceedings.

And in addition to these, Compass has specialists in contract and commercial litigation, and judicial review. Many members are rated in the Legal 500 as leading in their practice areas, including professional negligence, personal injury and regulatory crime.

Compass Chambers also has a close affiliation with the highly-rated Crown Office Chambers in London and shares many of the essential values espoused by them.

More information at www.compasschambers.com. Or telephone: 0131 260 5648.

CONNARTY ADVOCATES ‘Persuasive arguments’ Extra to the advocacy expertise that Connarty Advocates offers is an impressive readiness to step out of familiar surroundings. Its members have been involved in murder cases in the southern hemisphere, international war crime appeals in The Hague, and most notably the Camp Zeist trial in Holland of the men accused of the Lockerbie bombing.

“Our core work is in the criminal courts, of course,” says stable director Neil Murray, “and from the beginning our counsel have been involved in some of the most high-profile and complex criminal trials and appeals, acting for both prosecution and defence …”

However, while the stable’s range of practice includes valuable experience in many areas — public inquiries, fatal accident inquiries, children’s referrals, family law, extradition, employment, health and safety, insurance, media law, personal injury and professional negligence — Mr Murray is not too concerned about claiming specialist skills.

“It has always been my view that the Bar should be a centre of excellence for advocacy, not for particular expertise in the more arcane areas of law. By which

I mean having the ability to put forward a convincing and persuasive case in any field without humming and hawing.

“Our counsel share a commitment to best practice and are always keen to take new challenges. They are sensitive and responsive to solicitors’ and individual clients’ needs. But most importantly, they are adaptable.”

The stable’s principal clerk is Susan Connarty, who brings a “hard to beat” knowledge after working for an Edinburgh law firm and a large criminal stable. She is assisted by Fiona Minto, who joined Connarty Advocates from a leading firm of Edinburgh criminal defence solicitors, and together they are “unparalleled in their ability to find the right counsel for a particular case”.

For more information, visit www.connartyadvocates.com. Or telephone: 0131 260 5607.

HASTIE STABLE Flexibility is the key “Ours is a broad stable of mainly civil practitioners offering real strength in depth in a number of particular areas, as exemplified by the recent launch of our sub-groups in employment law, property law, commercial and company law and reparation,” says stable director Alan McLean QC. “That strength is also evident in the outstanding work of our family practitioners over the years.

“I think flexibility is one of our key qualities — we are very keen to embrace modern technology and all the other avenues that make our service work well for the client.”

Flexibility is also a key approach to fee-rendering for the stable, which was formed in 1991. Its 36 members are willing to negotiate with clients; to enter into fee arrangements before taking on work; and to agree rates for large or “bulk” instructions: for example, trade unionbacked cases, insurance company-backed cases, local authority cases, and those from other organisations.

The experience of what Mr McLean calls “a very contented group of practitioners” with no particular anxieties about growth covers the whole breadth and scope of professional practice. Skilled and enthusiastic clerks Susan Hastie and Sara Mauriello provide outline descriptions of members’ experience in particular areas of work through their database of all members’ curriculum vitae. They also advise clients on individual counsels’ experience, availability, timescales and cost.

“We are always open to clients’ suggestions as to how our services may be improved to meet individual needs,” adds Mr McLean. “Counsel in the stable offer a friendly but direct approach to legal practice. They combine imaginative legal analysis with a mastery of detail, and their aim is to give practical advice of the highest standard – to conduct litigation with toughness, judgment and confidence – and to provide an unbeatable expertise in Scots law.”

More information at www.hastiestable. com. Or telephone: 0131 260 5654.

MACKINNON ADVOCATES ‘Big-case specialists’ WHILE they constitute the only stable of advocates based in Glasgow — after relocation from Edinburgh in 2007 — Mackinnon Advocates appear across the country in all types of cases. They are specifically recognised as criminal practitioners, however, as they include some pre-eminent names practising criminal law in Scotland today.

Tuesday July 24 2012 | the times

8

Business Insight

“Not the least of these,” says practice manager Banny Mackinnon, “is Donald Findlay QC, our most senior member, who is recognised as being at the top of his profession not only in Scotland but throughout the UK and beyond.”

That might be understating the mark when one looks at some instantly recognisable cases in which Mr Findlay has been involved. “The list is endless,” adds Mr Mackinnon. “It includes the cases of Paul Ferris, the Ice Cream Wars, Peter Tobin (twice), the first Nat Fraser trial (he defended a co-accused who was acquitted); Luke Mitchell, IRA trials, UDA/ UVF trials, the Scottish National Liberation Army, and Mohammed Siddique, the first Islamic terrorist trial in this country.”

Each stable member is an independent practitioner offering a high standard of advocacy and experience when providing representation for a wide variety of clients in the High Court, Sheriff Court and Court of Criminal Appeal. Not to mention tribunals, hearings and enquiries.

“Glasgow may be the natural base for Mackinnon Advocates, enabling us to provide the best service for clients,” says Mr Mackinnon. “But that does not restrict us from operating in the rest of Scotland and our members regularly appear in a professional capacity in other parts of the UK.” A number of the stable’s members also practise civil law in areas including human rights, medical negligence, employment, property, family, child welfare law, disciplinary tribunals, sports legislation, immigration, maritime, fatal accident inquiries and judicial review.

More information from www.mackinnonadvocates.co.uk. Or telephone: 0141 553 4891.

MURRAY STABLE ‘Worthwhile advocacy’ While this stable focuses on four main areas of law — family, commercial insolvency, employment and public law — practice manager Iain Murray confesses to a special affinity for those that involve human rights. “The point is,” he says, “that although public law, for instance, may be poorly funded and poorly remunerated, we’re dealing with real people and their problems: prisoners, asylum seekers, and so forth. So we often feel what we are doing is very worthwhile.”

It’s not always quite so simple as just “standing up for the small man”, however.

Sometimes the team might also be also representing the government in such cases and “a balance has to be found between applicant and respondent by putting up Chinese walls”.

Geographic boundaries can be less definite for the 35-member stable which finds that “contact from the web brings in a lot of English employment and immigration tribunal work – often originating from the spread of cross-border companies – requiring that we provide counsel here”.

In the employment law field, members act on behalf of employees, employers and trade unions in areas that include sex and race discrimination, unfair dismissal, TUPE, whistle-blowing, disciplinary hearings and employment-related aspects of EU law and the ECHR. The stable, established in 1991, boasts some of Scotland’s most experienced advocates specialising in family law. Commercial work includes banking, contracts, loans, financial services regulation, sale of goods, insurance, competition, directors’ liabilities and disqualification, shareholder disputes, winding-up, partnerships, and licensing.

Personal injury work includes fatal

accidents, employers’ liability, industrial disease and group litigation, while professional and medical negligence work includes appearances at disciplinary tribunals and courts. “In professional negligence involving medical practitioners, accountants, lawyers, surveyors, auditors, architects and insurance brokers we have all areas covered,” says Iain Murray.

More information from www.murraystable.com. Or telephone: 0131 260 5697.

TERRA FIRMA CHAMBERS ‘Planning to grow’ Providing more specialist services was the aim when Terra Firma Chambers was set up in 2008, says Practice Manager Emma Potter. And it has grown fast. Four years later, it boasts 17 more wise legal heads than then — with a total roll call of 47 — and the full complement includes 16 QCs and 12 dual-qualified members, who regularly take on cross-border work for UK clients.

Among the well-known names on its books are former Lord Advocate Dame Elish Angiolini, and LibDem leading lights Sir Menzies Campbell and Advocate General Jim Wallace.

The stable’s most notable specialisations are in property, planning, commercial and administrative law, although – as Ms Potter points out — the character of planning work has changed of late, particularly given the effects of the downturn on housebuilders: “There is now more emphasis on renewable energy proposals along with longstanding areas like compulsory purchase, retail developments and, of course, judicial review.

“Fortunately for us, we frequently act for most or all parties involved in planning disputes — councils, developers, obEmma Potter, Practice Manager, Terra Firma Chambers

jectors so with counsel on every side, we often register a ‘Terra Firma victory’.”

Emma Potter, the only Scottish practice manager to be a member of the Institute of Barristers Clerks, is supported in “approachable and efficient clerking services” (Chambers UK) by deputy clerks Andrew Veitch and Tracy Whitelaw.

She sees the character of the clerking role evolving to embrace a greater degree of marketing; getting out there to spread the word. One of the specialist services provided by Terra Firma is a dedicated Arbitration group (TFCArb): “We recently held an event on that theme in New York, promoting the benefits of the new Arbitration (Scotland) Act. This Act modernises arbitration law in Scotland and improves upon the English model on which it is based. Conducting arbitrations in Scotland is attractive and generally far more cost effective than going through London or Dubai.”

More information from www.terrafirmachambers.com or call 0131 260 5830.

WESTWATER ADVOCATES ‘First in self-control’ This was the first stable in Scotland to “devolve” and become self-governing, in March, 2007. Its 49 advocates have since controlled key aspects of management, including admissions.

Self-governing status has allowed the stable to develop further the business of its already sought-after members and improve their service delivery.

These members, including nine silks, offer recognised expertise across almost all areas of Scots law – providing advice and representation. They appear regularly in courts at all levels for a broad range of clients, and also in tribunals, fatal accident inquiries, arbitrations and mediations.

“The team is highly motivated and extremely approachable,” says Sheila Westwater, clerk since 1991, and aided by deputies Christina Ballantyne and Jane Morrison. The clerks advise “with integrity and sensitivity” on availability and suitability of advocates for particular work. They happily advise on the practicalities of instructing counsel and are always willing to agree fees in advance.

“As part of its constant commitment

The imposing interior of Parliament Hall, above, while traditions such as wig boxes co-exist with more contemporary tools of the profession

to improving its services, the stable welcomes feedback on all aspects of those services,” adds Ms Westwater.

Morag Wise QC, Deputy Stable Director, comments: “We offer a wealth of expertise at all levels of seniority in personal injury, professional (including medical) negligence, contract and commercial work, family law (financial provision for divorce), adoption and international child abduction, intellectual property and employment law.

“There are also skilled practitioners acknowledged as pre-eminent in the fields of licensing, agricultural and land law, planning, media law, judicial review, children’s referrals and mental health.

Our members conduct cases in whatever forum the situation demands, from the Sheriff Courts around Scotland to the UK Supreme Court in London.

The stable also includes several notable criminal practitioners with particular expertise in proceeds of crime, health and safety prosecutions and white-collar crime.

More information: www.westwateradvocates.com. Or telephone: 0131 260 5700.

the times | Tuesday July 24 2012

9

Business Insight commercial report: ViriDor commercial report: ViriDor

Viridor, helping helping Scotland Scotland Viridor, realise its its zero zero waste waste realise ambitions ambitions T T Looking to the immediate future in 2013, work Looking to the immediate future in 2013, work will also begin on a consented £200m energy from will also begin on a consented £200m energy from waste plant in the of Scotland.

Such plants waste plant in the EastEast of Scotland.

Such plants he importance of waste manageScotland utilize world leading technolohe importance of waste managewillwill helphelp Scotland utilize world leading technoloment is one Scotland takes to enhance recycling recover renewable ment is one thatthat Scotland takes giesgies to enhance recycling andand recover renewable seriously.

With ambitions energy. energy.

Thus helping switch from landfill veryvery seriously.

With loftylofty ambitions Thus helping the the switch from landfill to to towards renewable energy and the more sustainable solutions. towards renewable energy and the more sustainable solutions. reduction of landfill, nation Viridor invested million reduction of landfill, the the nation is is Viridor has has alsoalso invested overover £11£11 million in in amongst the elite in Europe who are the West Coast Recycling Hub at Bargeddie, amongst the elite in Europe who are the West Coast Recycling Hub at Bargeddie, considering environmental, long-term future. Lanarkshire.

Lanarkshire.

With Scotland’s most advanced considering the the environmental, long-term future.

With Scotland’s most advanced ma-maOne company is at the forefront of this green terials recycling facility opened in 2009, the One company is at the forefront of this green terials recycling facility opened in 2009, the sitesite revolution.

Viridor largest recycling group received received a further £3.6m investment in 2012 revolution.

Viridor are are the the largest recycling group a further £3.6m investment in 2012 to to in the Scotland’s leading recycling, further enhance range of waste recyclables in the UKUK andand Scotland’s leading recycling, re- re- further enhance the the range of waste andand recyclables newable energy sustainable waste partner. managed for customers. newable energy andand sustainable waste partner. managed for customers.

Supporting thirty-one Scottish local authorities TheThe plans to bring Europe’s most Supporting thirty-one Scottish local authorities firmfirm alsoalso has has plans to bring Europe’s most across the country and public sector bodies, some advanced glass recycling center to Scotland. across the country and public sector bodies, some advanced glass recycling center to Scotland. of the nation’s leading businesses listed Seen a coup on the international stage, of the nation’s leading businesses are are alsoalso listed as as Seen as aascoup on the international stage, the the clients.

Amongst the high profile customers are company announced in February that new “next clients. Amongst the high profile customers are company announced in February that new “next Royal Bank of Scotland, Scottish Power generation” recycling infrastructure would the the Royal Bank of Scotland, Scottish Power andand generation” glassglass recycling infrastructure would be be Coca-Cola enterprises. constructed. of only three of the latest specifiCoca-Cola enterprises. constructed.

OneOne of only three of the latest specifiScottish Government set some of the cation cation technology solutions to developed be developed across TheThe Scottish Government has has set some of the technology solutions to be across most ambitious waste plans in Europe.

Unlike the the globe, similar facilities being developed most ambitious zerozero waste plans in Europe.

Unlike globe, similar facilities are are being developed in in majority of Europe, Scotland’s traditional France Australia. the the majority of Europe, Scotland’s traditional France andand Australia. reliance on landfill nation Already Scotland’s leading recycler reliance on landfill has has seenseen the the nation fall fall wellwell Already Scotland’s leading glassglass recycler via via behind the rest of the continent where waste rea 100,000 tonne p.a. facility, the £6 million behind the rest of the continent where waste rea 100,000 tonne p.a. facility, the £6 million duction, reuse, enhanced recycling recovering project project enhance Viridor’s offering to public duction, reuse, enhanced recycling andand recovering willwill enhance Viridor’s offering to public renewable energy from what remains are comprivate sector partners. facility recycles renewable energy from what remains are comandand private sector partners.

TheThe facility recycles monplace.

Scotland therefore has to play catch container and plate glass from across eighteen monplace. Scotland therefore has to play catch container and plate glass from across eighteen soon.

Scottish local authority areas supplies up, up, andand soon.

Scottish local authority areas andand supplies the the However, it would appear that ambition is Scottish container remanufacture, insulation However, it would appear that ambition is Scottish container remanufacture, insulation andand yielding results of domestic all domestic waste aggregate aggregate sectors. yielding results withwith 40%40% of all waste sectors. now being recycled.

Confirming that zero waste Working across country a paramount now being recycled. Confirming that zero waste Working across the the country is a isparamount issueissue wont happen without a network of next genera- for Viridor. for Viridor.

From its investment in existing faciliwont happen without a network of next generaFrom its investment in existing facilirecycling sustainable waste technolo- tiesties to the projects in the pipeline, a wider tiontion recycling andand sustainable waste technoloto the newnew projects in the pipeline, a wider Viridor committed to helping Scotland sense sense of Scottish community is important to those gies,gies, Viridor are are committed to helping Scotland of Scottish community is important to those deliver on the ambitions to shift towards greater involved involved in the company’s forward planning. deliver on the ambitions to shift towards greater in the company’s forward planning.

It isIt is recycling landfill diversion through energy seenseen as being integral in the company counrecycling andand landfill diversion through energy as being integral in the company andand counfrom waste a number of key, strategic opera- try’stry’s development a global scale of sustainable from waste via via a number of key, strategic operadevelopment on aonglobal scale of sustainable tions across country. energy as well as future economic stability. tions across thethe country. energy as well as future economic stability.

It has investing over half-a-billion pounds in During a time of economic uncertainty It has investing over half-a-billion pounds in During a time of economic uncertainty andand ‘next generation’ green infrastructure schemes difficulties, Viridor confident that, as oran or‘next generation’ green infrastructure schemes difficulties, Viridor are are confident that, as an that are hoped to translate the Scottish zero waste ganisation and as a country, Scotland is choosing that are hoped to translate the Scottish zero waste ganisation and as a country, Scotland is choosing policy practice. its future investments wisely. policy intointo practice. its future investments wisely.

Viridor’s intentions are to continue with its The focus on the potential a “green Viridor’s intentions are to continue with its The focus on the potential of aof“green ambitions towards what it sees a leading economy” is seen as the right by commentaambitions towards what it sees as aasleading issueissue economy” is seen as the right oneone by commentafor the country.

In estimate an estimate generated by their torstors experts. ambitious plans from for the country.

In an generated by their andand experts.

TheThe ambitious plans from thethe own researchers, the company predicts that an Scottish Government are transforming the own researchers, the company predicts that an Scottish Government are transforming the wayway investment of £1.5 billion is required for Scotland thethe nation views waste. from problem investment of £1.5 billion is required for Scotland nation views waste.

TheThe shiftshift from problem to meet its zero waste targets.

They are committed to resource is quickly taking shape across to meet its zero waste targets. They are committed to resource is quickly taking shape across thethe to leading an investment, accolade country. country.

This fundamental attitude change to leading suchsuch an investment, withwith the the accolade This fundamental attitude change is is of largest public or private sector investment in making Scotland an appealing place to invest of largest public or private sector investment in making Scotland an appealing place to invest waste technologies north of the border. with Viridor at the forefront. zerozero waste technologies north of the border. with Viridor at the forefront.

Plans for the future are already taking shape. company’s investment is seen as not Plans for the future are already taking shape.

TheThe company’s investment is seen as not onlyonly With a number of projects currently in the final helping deliver a sustainable economy, but With a number of projects currently in the final helping deliver a sustainable economy, but alsoalso stages of confirmation, Viridor investing providing a broad range of waste reduction, reuse, stages of confirmation, Viridor are are investing all all providing a broad range of waste reduction, reuse, across Scotland, with key areas in Glasgow, Dunenhanced recycling and renewable energy from across Scotland, with key areas in Glasgow, Dunenhanced recycling and renewable energy from Bargeddie Viridor glass. what remains in emerging an emerging Scottish recycling bar,bar, Bargeddie andand Viridor glass. what remains in an Scottish recycling The company last week concluded an ambisector.

Harnessing the renewable energy content The company last week concluded an ambisector. Harnessing the renewable energy content tious 25-year Glasgow Council of waste can’t be recycled providing tious 25-year dealdeal withwith Glasgow CityCity Council to to of waste thatthat can’t be recycled andand providing a a develop a £147m Glasgow Recycling Renew- broad broad range of benefits for construction, employdevelop a £147m Glasgow Recycling andand Renewrange of benefits for construction, employEnergy Centre transform city’s ment, ment, SME social opportunities in Scottish ableable Energy Centre thatthat willwill transform the the city’s SME andand social opportunities in Scottish residual waste. business recognized as positive outcomes. residual waste. business are are alsoalso recognized as positive outcomes.

The new facility is aiming to save the equivaLooking to a bright future, Colin Paterson, The new facility is aiming to save the equivaLooking to a bright future, Colin Paterson, of 90,000 tones of CO2 emissions every year.Scottish Scottish Regional Director for Viridor, “The lentlent of 90,000 tones of CO2 emissions every year.

Regional Director for Viridor, said:said: “The Keeping in accordance with Glasgow’s dedicatime for transforming waste is now and Viridor Keeping in accordance with Glasgow’s dedicatime for transforming waste is now and Viridor is is to citywide recycling waste reduction, transforming transforming waste.” tiontion to citywide recycling andand waste reduction, waste.” facility boost recovery of valuable company at the forefront of transformthethe facility willwill boost thethe recovery of valuable TheThe company is atisthe forefront of transformrecyclable materials.

It will also generate enough ing waste in Scotland: for the Scottish public, recyclable materials. It will also generate enough ing waste in Scotland: for the Scottish public, for for energy to power equivalent of 20,000 house- private private sector partners, for communities energy to power thethe equivalent of 20,000 housesector partners, for communities andand for for holds within future of the nation. holds within thethe city.city. the the future of the nation.

Jonathan Whitelaw ByBy Jonathan Whitelaw

Viridorisishelping helpingbusinesses businesses Viridor preparefor fornew newregulations regulations prepare

Regional Director, Colin Paterson, said: Viridor is Scotland’s leading recycling, Regional Director, Colin Paterson, said: Viridor is Scotland’s leading recycling, “There remains an urgent need for action renewable energy and sustainable waste “There remains an urgent need for action renewable energy and sustainable waste from Scottish Government, Waste partner. of the FTSE Pennon Group, from Scottish Government, ZeroZero Waste partner.

PartPart of the FTSE 100100 Pennon Group, Scotland, industry others to ensure Viridor waste action, transforming industry andand others to ensure Viridor putsputs waste intointo action, transforming it it Scotland, businesses are clear on their obligations into high quality recyclables, raw materials and into high quality recyclables, raw materials and businesses are clear on their obligations andand routes to achieve compliance.” energy. thethe routes to achieve compliance.” energy.

He added: Its full range of services includes: recycling He added: Its full range of services includes: recycling “Here Viridor message waste advice auditing; advanced “Here Viridor cancan helphelp andand ourour message andand waste advice andand auditing; advanced is clear: Viridor is investing today to be the materials recycling; glass and plastics is clear: Viridor is investing today to be the materials recycling; glass and plastics preferred partner of Scottish business.” reprocessing; e-waste recycling; composting; preferred partner of Scottish business.” reprocessing; e-waste recycling; composting; Each Viridor transforms million mechanical & biological treatment; anaerobic Each yearyear Viridor transforms overover twotwo million mechanical & biological treatment; anaerobic tons of materials into high quality recyclate. digestion; waste to energy; transport; tons of materials into high quality recyclate. digestion; waste to energy; transport; Resulting in 130 megawatts of renewable collection; disposal; habitat restoration Resulting in 130 megawatts of renewable collection; disposal; andand habitat restoration energy.

In total it safely manages eight and management. energy. In total it safely manages overover eight and management. million of recyclables waste materials Supporting some 96% of Scottish local million tonstons of recyclables andand waste materials Supporting some 96% of Scottish local for customers from all sectors across authorities public sector bodies, for customers from all sectors across thethe UK.UK. authorities andand public sector bodies, thethe Employing 3,200 people, Viridor company focuses on helping Scottish Employing overover 3,200 people, Viridor company alsoalso focuses on helping Scottish strives to an be environmentally, an environmentally, socially business prepare for the regulations to be socially business prepare for the newnew regulations for for strives and economically sustainable business. waste management. and economically sustainable business. All All waste management. sites services operated under Scottish Government’s ambitious sites andand services areare operated under thethe TheThe Scottish Government’s ambitious company’s business management system targets to reduce the country’s landfill waste to targets to reduce the country’s landfill waste to company’s business management system incorporating highest environmental, by 2025 amongst most ambitious incorporating thethe highest environmental, 5% 5% by 2025 areare amongst thethe most ambitious quality and health and safety standards. in Europe.

It also targets 70% of all waste quality and health and safety standards. in Europe. It also targets 70% of all waste Viridor’s Lakeside “Energy from Waste” streams for recycling by the same year.

Viridor’s Lakeside “Energy from Waste” streams for recycling by the same year. venture Chartered Institution These targets a pressing issue jointjoint venture wonwon thethe Chartered Institution of of These targets areare a pressing issue for for Wastes Management’s Peel Peoples Cup Scottish businesses.

Taking a practical, proWastes Management’s Peel Peoples Cup for for Scottish businesses. Taking a practical, profacility in the in 2011. active attitude towards working business, thethe bestbest runrun facility in the UK UK in 2011.

TheThe active attitude towards working withwith business, company was named ‘UK Recycling Waste Viridor are at the forefront of helping Scottish company was named ‘UK Recycling andand Waste Viridor are at the forefront of helping Scottish Management Business of the Year’ at the businesses, public private sector partners.Management Business of the Year’ at the businesses, public andand private sector partners.

2010 National Recycling Awards.

Speaking on Viridor’s commitment, Scottish 2010 National Recycling Awards.

Speaking on Viridor’s commitment, Scottish

Tuesday July 24 2012 | the times

10

Business Insight

Special Feature: Recycling

Time to bin all those wasteful ways of business The advent of new regulations means that Scottish companies need to take a fresh and urgent look at recycling — and experience the business benefits, writes Heidi Soholt

S

COTTISH businesses are sharpening up their recycling practices in the run-up to new regulations aimed at reducing waste and boosting the country’s economy. A total of 6.5 million tonnes of waste is produced each year by businesses operating in Scotland’s commercial and industrial sector. In addition, Scotland’s construction and demolition operations produce around six million tonnes of waste, and Scottish households create just under three million tonnes.

Scotland has made great strides towards increasing its recycling rate in recent years. Now, new Waste (Scotland) Regulations, passed by the Scottish Parliament earlier this year, represent a landmark step towards boosting recycling rates further and creating a zero waste society.

The Scottish government hopes to achieve a 70 per cent recycling rate by 2025 which, it is anticipated, could boost the Scottish economy by £175 million by mitigating against rising landfill costs, creating revenue from sale of high quality recyclables, and developing markets to turn recyclables back into valuable products.

The regulations will require all businesses operating in Scotland to separate paper and card, plastic, metal and glass for recycling by January 1 2014. Businesses that produce more than 50kg of food waste per week will also need to separate this for collection by January 1 2014, while those producing between 5kg and 49kg per week will be asked to follow suit

by January 1 2016.

Householders are also set to see changes as a result of the regulations as councils will increase kerbside services to include separate collections for paper and card, plastic, metal, glass and, with the exception of rural areas, food.

The new regulations include a ban on sending biodegradable waste to landfill, the first of its kind in the UK. There will also be a ban on material collected for recycling going to landfill, and a new requirement to remove key recyclables from residual waste prior to incineration.

To support the changes required by

the regulations, Zero Waste Scotland has made £8 million available to councils and commercial waste management firms this year, including £5 million to support the roll-out of new food waste collections and £750,000 to help increase the availability of collection services to Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs).

Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said: “I am delighted that the waste regulations have been approved by the Scottish Parliament as they represent a Marissa Lippiat believes that reprocessing will mean selling products, not managing waste

major step in delivering our vision of a zero waste Scotland. These regulations will bring about a profound and longoverdue change in how we view and manage the waste that we produce.

“Innovative solutions to recycle in cost-effective ways signal a welcome pragmatism from Scottish businesses to meet the requirements of new waste regulations. The Scottish government, along with Zero Waste Scotland, is providing funding to help businesses find better solutions to managing waste.

“We all need to realise that the price of, and demand for, raw materials is increasing globally, mainly down to rising energy costs, consumer trends, population growth and resource scarcity. To create a secure resource future we need to develop the infrastructure necessary to reprocess high quality materials in Scotland and reduce our dependence on raw materials from overseas. An increase in better recycling will provide the stimulus to drive this required investment and in turn create new employment opportunities and help Scotland become a low carbon economy.”

Zero Waste Scotland is a programme of work delivered by Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) in Scotland.

Funded by the Scottish government, Zero Waste Scotland aims to deliver a range of support programmes to businesses, individuals and communities to help promote

the benefits of resource efficiency.

Zero Waste Scotland also aims to engage with businesses in Scotland to ensure they are aware of the new recycling requirements.

Alongside this, it will support the resource management industry to adapt their services and invest in developing

An appetite for cost reduction sees real results

B

y working with Zero Waste Scotland, Strathmore Foods Ltd has achieved better awareness of the actual cost of its waste, and developed a culture of waste prevention amongst production line staff. So far, process improvements have effectively reduced ingredient losses by around 68 tonnes per annum, generating cost savings of around £27,000 per annum.

The company is a leading Scottish manufacturer, producing a wide range of pies and ready meals to many of the major retail chains in Scotland. Operating from a single production facility in Forfar, the company employs 140 staff and has a turnover of approximately £10 million.

It has seen sharp rises in material, energy and utility costs in recent years and is keen to develop a targeted approach to resource efficiency to help address this.

Working closely with Zero Waste Scotland and other agencies, a programme of practical improvements to reduce resource use and waste was developed.

In 2011, Zero Waste Scotland completed a Resource Optimisation Review for Strathmore Foods which investigated and identified a range of opportunities to reduce packaging, raw material use and wastage.

A comprehensive report was provided, following which Strathmore Foods agreed to implement a range of recommendations with further support from Zero Waste Scotland.

The project began by developing a monitoring system to measure the extent and cost of identified sources of on-site waste. As well as a new systems-driven focus on waste reduction, the views of production

line staff were also actively sought.

Strathmore Foods is now planning to target other areas of potential waste, such as their meat and packaging processes, to generate further waste and cost savings.

Julie Nisbet, Managing Director at Strathmore Foods, said: “The support we received from Zero Waste Scotland provided us with a clear focus and stimulated a new momentum and enthusiasm to implement improvements.

“We have had great results on our pie line and are now actively targeting other areas of our operations to look for efficiency improvements and cost savings.

“A key benefit from quantifying and reporting on wastage is that our staff have developed a sense of ownership about preventing waste.

We see this in their day-to-day activities, as well as their willingness to identify and develop new ideas for improvements.”

the times | Tuesday July 24 2012

11

Business Insight CATE GILLON

The SME Collaborative Recycling Fund Businesses, particularly SMEs, are being encouraged to consider establishing collaborative waste management arrangements in order to comply with the new regulations.

As mentioned earlier, it has a £250,000 support fund available this year to help businesses develop flexible and cost-effective recycling solutions. Grants of up to a maximum of £50,000 are available through the programme, which provides a range of support including help with waste surveys and data analysis, business case and procurement support, options appraisals and service reviews.

There is also support with set-up costs for a collection/shared recycling facility which includes capital for the purchase of associated equipment such as compactors and balers, and help with funding for short-term skilled personnel to assist in project delivery.

An example of a successful collaborative project is the Glasgow Restaurant Association, which is taking forward plans to bring its 84 members together to recycle food waste at a reduced cost.

On Course for Zero Waste This is a free, accredited, online training course designed to help firms identify, appropriately manage and reduce the waste they generate, and the resources they use.

The course, which is specifically designed to be suitable for SMEs, aims to increase understanding of how much waste an organisation is producing and how waste costs are affecting profits, as well as offering support in identifying simple ways of starting to reduce waste and save money.

Resource Optimisation Reviews These are free onsite reviews for food and drink manufacturers looking at material flows from the “in gate to the out gate” to improve resource efficiency and reduce costs. See the case study on the facing page for more infomation.

recycling and reprocessing infrastructure.

Marissa Lippiatt, Head of Business Resource Efficiency at Zero Waste Scotland, commented: “It is important to support business in the lead up to the regulations.

Businesses can realise significant benefits from reducing waste, including bottomline savings and increased competitiveness, and most want to do their bit to recycle more.

“Last month, we launched a new fund to support and encourage businesses to work together to develop cost-effective, flexible recycling services. We have put £250,000 into this programme to help find solutions to ensure that businesses are ready for the forthcoming regulations.”

Businesses are being encouraged to use their raw materials in the most efficient way possible. This not only helps minimise their environmental impact but also helps companies cut costs and increase profits. Other benefits include meeting customer demand for sustainable products and services, and a reduction in dependence on landfill.

Better use of resources and increased recycling will, in fact, help economic growth through the creation of new jobs in low carbon industries, the development of a world-class resource management sector and the development of strong and resilient communities.

“By getting businesses to focus on the reprocessing of products to add value, it will mean that Scotland will be selling products and materials rather than managing waste,” added Ms Lippiatt.

Graeme Bellew of Cafe Pavilion, Russell Topping of the Rosehip pub and Scottish Environment Secretary Richard Lochead show their commitment to separating waste for recycling in Edinburgh

The Scottish government is aiming for 70 per cent recycling by 2015

Businesses are also being encouraged to think in terms of a product’s whole life span — from concept to disposal. This ‘circular economy’ approach balances economic development with the need to reduce our reliance on finite resources, such as rare earth metals, like those commonly found in batteries and LCD TVs. It works on the principle that resource management should be a consideration at the start of the product development cycle, thus minimising waste at the end.

Major companies such as Marks & Spencer and BT are adopting this approach, which is being spearheaded by industry-led think-tanks such as the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, founded by the world-famous yachtswoman in 2010 with the goal of “accelerating the transition to a regenerative, circular economy”.

A new group, The Product Sustainability Forum (PSF), has been established to bring together more than 80 organisations to tackle environmental and sustainability issues that arise from making and selling products. The forum, the first of its kind in the UK, is chaired by Dr Liz Goodwin, chief executive of WRAP. Dr Goodwin said: “The PSF vision is that everyday products should be designed with resource efficiency in mind, minimising environmental impact, and encouraging sustainable consumption and production. With more than 80 organisations supporting these goals, along with the support from all the UK governments, we’re determined to make progress towards this vision a reality.”

How then can Zero Waste Scotland help companies prepare for the 2014 regulations?

Waste Prevention Innovation Fund Up to £200,000 has already been made available to encourage environmental innovation in product and service development in Scotland. The aim is to support innovations with potential to deliver scalable reductions in primary resource use, waste arising or to transform end-of-life recovery options. An extension to this fund is planned in coming months.

Voluntary Agreements Zero Waste Scotland works with business to create voluntary agreements to help firms commit to improving resource use.

One successful example of this work in practice includes the Courtauld Commitment, a voluntary agreement with the retail grocery sector which targets packaging and food waste reductions. Another is the Home Improvement Sector Commitment to reduce packaging and waste sent to landfill from sector operations.

Only two months ago, a new UK-wide voluntary agreement was launched for the Hospitality and Food Service industry to support the sector in reducing waste and recycling more. Zero Waste Scotland is now working with a number of early signatories in Scotland to take action to achieve targets, which will also set them on track to comply with new regulations.

It is also looking for further new signatories to join this Commitment.

In addition to the support services above, Zero Waste Scotland provides case studies which exemplify good practice, hosts regular workshops, and offers access to online tools such as the comprehensive Waste Exchange Tool and the Business Reuse and Recycling Directory.

Waste costs UK industry £15 billion a year but despite that, half of all companies are unaware of what they spend on it

These tools help businesses look for ways to pass on resources that they no longer need, access recycling services in their local area, and get advice on buying recycled products. And there is also specialist support available for key sectors, including construction and retail.

So, how will businesses and Scotland PLC benefit from managing resources better?

Waste is expensive; it costs UK industry at least £15 billion per year. Despite this, half of all companies are unaware how much they actually spend on waste.

When the value of raw materials, energy and wasted labour is considered, the real cost of waste is often between five and 20 times the cost of disposal alone.

By preventing waste from occurring in the first place, estimates suggest Scottish businesses could save up to £1.4 billion. Savings can be made by using raw materials more efficiently and generating less waste, as well as in waste management fees and less landfill tax.

There are also advantages in ensuring that high-quality recyclables are sorted separately: these can in turn be sold at a higher price by waste management contractors, which could lead to better collection rates being offered to the waste producer.

By separating different types of waste for recycling, businesses can also become more aware of what waste is being created in the first place, promoting efficiency and resulting in less waste being produced.

High-value recyclables can also help develop economy-boosting markets.

Plastic, for example, has one of the highest economic values per tonne, as do non-ferrous metals. The development of a waste processing infrastructure, the growth of Far Eastern markets and the scarcity of raw materials has created a significant worldwide demand for such recyclables.

These materials are now traded in the same ways as other commodities, with high demand recyclable materials obtaining high prices.

The new regulations will also trigger growth in the green jobs sector. With quality materials commanding strong market values, and regulations increasing the collection of material, Scotland has an opportunity to develop sustainable reprocessing infrastructure and produce materials in line with market demands.

This will generate jobs not only in collection, but also in reprocessing these materials and supplying these markets.

Realising Scotland’s zero waste ambitions could also result in new jobs in reuse centres, repair shops, recycling, composting, product design and the production of high quality products with recycled materials.

Louise McGregor, Zero Waste Scotland’s Head of Market Development said: “The regulations will bring economic opportunities for shrewd businesses in the reprocessing and resource management sectors. Zero Waste Scotland has programmes to support such growth.”

Tuesday July 24 2012 | the times

12

Business Insight commercial report: UNiVerSitY oF DUNDee

an extra degree of energy Dundee’s MBA offering has become a unique world-beater

the carnegie Building at University of Dundee

I

t is an institution with its head in the clouds and its feet firmly on the ground, said the Irish poet Seamus Heaney of the University of Dundee. That may be one of the factors attracting students from all over the world to its Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy. It can’t be the poetic appeal of the title that is so magnetic, as it gets no zappier when boiled down to its initials – CEPMLP. Nonetheless, it is a name that travels remarkably well, as its reputation – notably for a unique energy industry orientated MBA degree – is ever-growing to the extent that there is a considerable waiting list for the full-time, part-time and distance learning programmes delivered by the centre’s (no zappier) Graduate School of Natural Resources, Law Policy and Management.

There is a touch more poetry in the assertion of the graduate school dean, Ian Ball, that “we don’t do plain ordinary vanilla MBAs”. And he adds, proudly: “CEPMLP is a global brand anywhere you go, particularly in Africa.”

The school’s MBA director, associate dean of learning and teaching, Gillian Pallis, expands on that: “While some universities simply talk about students attempting to increase their human capital by undertaking further qualifications/development within an over-supplied European/US market, we do not serve these. We operate in underdeveloped but expanding global commodity markets where appropriate human capital is scarce. Therefore we are not in the same situation.”

In other words, adds Mr Ball, “it’s a specialist niche degree comparable to no other on the planet”. And for many energy specialists around the planet, its essential differences represent a career-enhancing godsend in the form of added extras to the normal MBA curriculum – such as law, policy, economics, dispute resolution and leadership. That said, added extras on the fee front are obviously to be expected. This special shiny super-powered model costs £16,800, which compares with the British MBA average cost of £12,000.

Not all of the school’s 600 students are lucky enough to be ensconced near the dean’s eyrie in the handsome late-Victorian Carnegie Building, tucked behind the main Perth Road university complex with its grassy front and lovely view of the silvery Tay. Around 180 of them are into distance learning from faraway places. There are 230 new students every year from 52 nationalities, and 11 nationalities of staff. Around 70 MBAs are issued each year.

While other universities’ degrees in natural resources focus on engineering solutions, the Dundee MBA in International Oil and Gas Management features a deliberate blend of business and management studies, practical and skills-based activities, and student-centred extracurricular opportunities in a programme that aims to have the graduates “hit the ground running” in management roles in the industry.

“We focus on law, policy and management, so we produce people with Master of Laws (lawyers), energy economists, and managers for the oil, gas, mining and water industries. And that’s what makes our offering unique.”

CEPMLP business and management degrees also offer an insight into the relationships between the public and private sectors, and the community at international and national levels. They have a wide range of modules contextualised for the energy and natural resources, enabling students to pursue a specific area of interest while developing their skills and professional competence to excel in a sector where continuous innovation is crucial to productivity and growth.

Apart from the MBA mentioned above, also offered are MSc degrees in International Oil and Gas Management, an MBA in International Mineral Resource Management and elective modules with a natural resource focus.

The Dundee MBA has specialist routes in International Energy Industry Management, International Business Transactions, International Mineral Resources Management, International Oil and Gas Management, and International Water Management.

There is a related range of supporting practicefocused activities such as project management software training and business simulation exercises, including regular whole-day tele-conference “negotiations” between developing country representatives and American multi-national executives. What makes these seem pretty real is that the Americans are real-time working US bosses.

These negotiation sessions are hosted by Colombian-born Janeth Warden Fernandez, the distance learning director who – as one who didn’t keep her distance but chose to work in Dundee – offers an interesting insight into one of the other reasons why such a polyglot lot choose the relatively remote City of Discovery as opposed to, say, the more glamorous attraction of London. “There is much less to do here,” she says. “London would have too many distractions. In Dundee, people can really get their heads down to study.”

Which is not to say that social connections among the students are limited. The university hosts many events such as oil club presentations and dinners, student chapters – Energy Institute, AIPN (Association of International Petroleum Negotiators), Society of Petroleum Engineers – as well as guest speaker events, industry focused

an extremely rewarding experience

mBa graduate Wallace Duodu

Wallace Duodu, 31, is a recent graduate of the Dundee CEPMLP full-time MBA (international oil and gas management) programme – and he is heading home to Ghana next month to set up his own energy industry financial advisory company in Accra.

His year’s study stay by the Tay was prompted by some well-travelled and industry-wise Ghanaian colleagues who recommended “Scotland, but especially Dundee” for the bespoke degree. And now he feels “better equipped”, saying completion of the programme has created “a life-changing opportunity” for him.

“Having qualified as a chartered accountant with a strong professional experience in the energy industry,” he says, “a bespoke MBA course was what I needed to face today’s challenges in the sector. I was drawn to the programme because of its unique nature and reputation.

“I enjoyed a world-class academic staff with extensive industry knowledge blending theory with practical experience. The course content combines business simulations, presentations, in-depth research work, individual and group practical projects that

field trips and social events like the annual ceilidh and winter party. There is also an annual careers fair.

But the rewards in career terms for so much study concentration on so many aspects can be hugely significant, says Mr Ball. “When you come to manage an inter-disciplinary team – having

make the learning experience extremely rewarding.

“Its rich international environment also gifted me a lifetime network of talented future energy leaders across the globe.”

Wallace Duodu, 31, a recent graduate of the Dundee CEPMLP full-time MBA

studied all these disciplines here – you are able to understand the workers’ language, their culture, their legal issues. So you become a critical interlocutor between different stakeholders.

“And that’s how – while we may have our feet on the ground – we also help people to hit the ground running.”